High street department store giant Debenhams could be forced to permanently close some of its biggest stores if the government does not slash tax bills in the following months.
Debenhams currently has 124 stores in the UK, but that number could reduce by up to 40 following what has been described as a 'torrid' year.
The chain has already closed 22 stores this year - including one in Altrincham. Now others may be at risk, including Manchester's store.
Speaking about the future of some of the UK's largest Debenhams stores, the chairman, Mark Gifford, told The Mail On Sunday: "Some of them aren't going to make it. Some will have to close. We're looking at them every week to see how things develop.
"Sales are returning every week, we are building more confidence, and shoppers are returning in bigger numbers.
'But Oxford Street is really vulnerable. It has a £5.5million annual rates bill – eyewatering. It's the fourth most expensive in the country after Harrods and Selfridges and John Lewis on Oxford Street."
He also hinted that outside of London, other major stores, including Manchester's, could be forced to close.
He said: "You go to cities like Edinburgh and it's the same story – Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow.
"Is London going to return? Is Manchester going to return? We've been open for 12 weeks, in the best locations, and are seeing really good footfall outside the big city centres, but not inside them.
"It's too early to say we are closing stores in those centres – some were our most profitable stores. So we'd like to keep them open. But we can't keep them open forever on a hope."
